'Boy Meets World' Stars Danielle Fishel and Maitland Ward's Feud Explained — How It Started and Their Status After Tense Podcast Reunion

Danielle Fishel joined the cast of Boy Meets World in 1993 as Topanga Lawrence, while Maitland Ward began playing Rachel McGuire in its sixth season in 1998.

They worked together for two seasons until the series ended in 2000, though the 43-year-old The Wizard of Oz star got the chance to reprise her role again on Girl Meets World from 2014 to 2017.

Although Ward did not appear in the spinoff, she claimed she visited the set once, where Fishel was reportedly standoffish.

"I was shocked that she didn't even … she said 'Hello,' that’s it," Ward told Us Weekly in September 2022.

She added, "It's just a weird kind of thing, and I wish that we could be friends and I don't know the full reasons behind it. I had heard maybe she didn't like the whole old costars on the show, the girls to come back on there or something, but I don't know why she didn't or doesn't like me … we didn't, like, have a blowout. I was expecting bear hugs like I got from the guys, and [with Fishel] it was like, 'Oh … hi.'"

In a 2022 interview with TMZ, Ward said Fishel "does not like me. I think it has to do with the s----- stuff." She also claimed her former costar unfriended her on Facebook after she tried to reach out before Fishel's wedding to Tim Belusko.

"I wrote her a note to say congratulations, you're gonna be beautiful. She didn't respond to it," the 48-year-old adult film star said of Fishel.

Ward offered further elaboration on her drama with Fishel in her book My Escape from Hollywood: Unapologetic, Unfiltered and Unashamed.

"She definitely didn't seem to hate me," she wrote. "In fact, we connected over things you wouldn't expect, like our love of Chihuahuas and pet rats. Still, no matter how well we got along, there would always be a part of me that distrusted her and her motives toward me, and it all stemmed from [creator] Michael [Jacob's] first warnings."

Fisher, Rider Strong and Will Friedle welcomed Ward on the February 24 episode of their "Pod Meets World" podcast, throwing the drama into the limelight once more.

Midway through the show, Fishel asked Ward if she hates them.

"No, I don't hate you," Ward replied. "I think that you hate me because you wouldn't speak to me on Girl Meets World and that was hurtful."

The White Chicks actress soon brought up their Facebook drama and insisted Fishel ignored her message on the platform before she unfriended her. Fishel denied the claims and noted she is "not a Facebook person."

Fishel added, "I then went into my Facebook page, saw that we were not friends. Didn't remember when we were friends on Facebook or when we were no longer friends on Facebook. I found your message in the graveyard of messages, and I then felt very bad."

According to Fishel, she asked Friedle for her number to apologize, but she decided to save their conversation as it would be great for the podcast. Although Ward and Fishel had a tense conversation, the latter ended the episode placidly.

Ward spoke up about the headlines after her tense reunion with Fishel on the podcast.

In an interview with TooFab one day after the episode was released, Ward admitted she was "surprised by the situation."

"I did not come on that show to create controversy," she told the outlet. "I thought like any problems we had, we would talk in a conversational way, so I wasn't expecting such a jarring shift."

She also speculated that Fishel wanted to "catch [her] off guard" and "try to rattle [her] and she did."

Ward added to The New York Post, "What's really hurtful about the situation is maybe she was mad and she wanted to bring it up like that—but Will had presented this show to me before like it was going to be so much fun."

The Killing Mr. Griffin star remarked it "really sucks" if Friedle, who invited her to appear on the podcast, knew the drama would happen and failed to give her a heads-up.

"I was not going to start anything with her," Ward said of her interaction with Fishel. "We were just going to have conversations. As we got into the show, I thought it was weird that she wasn't bringing anything up, even in conversation."